WHEN the youthful American actor and director Sam Wanamaker visited London in 1949 he expected to see William Shakespeare's Globe theatre, or something approximating it, still standing on its site on the south bank of the Thames. Instead he found a derelict site and a plaque on a wall marking where the theatre of the bard, whose birthday is on April 23, had stood in the 17th century. He swore then that he would rebuild the Globe as an authentic copy of the original. Britain's acting profession was slow to respond. Its members didn't like an upstart American telling them about their history. The site was vacant and the local council wanted it for a housing project. Today Wanamaker's project, which took battles in the courts and decades of fighting red tape as well as raising money and enthusiasm, nears completion. Wanamaker established the Globe Playhouse Trust in 1970, the same year the council gave in and offered the site, near where the original theatre stood but it was not until 1987 that the actual ground was cleared. The going has not been easy, the work stopped for two years at one stage and for periods of time there was so little cash that Wanamaker himself cemented and painted with the other volunteers. But the Globe is much more than just a simple 'no tech' theatre known to the project organisers as the 'Wooden O'. The International Shakespeare Globe centre will contain another indoor theatre, shops, apartments, a Shakespeare exhibition and an education centre. The Wooden O will be able to accommodate an audience of over 1,500, including 500 standing beneath the open sky as they did in the 17th century. It is 10-metre high, 30 metres in diameter with 20 sections joined together to form an illusion of a circle. There have been other attempts at a Globe elsewhere in the world. There is one in the United States and one in Japan but they are modern buildings without the direct link to the playwright. The London Globe also needs more cash and the dedicated team who have brought the project this far aim to appeal to Hong Kong and even China soon, in the hope that a wealthy benefactor might be prepared to assist with what they confidently predict will become one of London's major tourist attractions and join an impressive international list of the great and good who have already become involved with the project. The oak and thatched theatre leaps out through the very curiosity of its architecture as you approach it - now, an oasis of seeming antiquity amid the modern buildings of London. By the end of the 1990s there will be an Underground station nearby, a jetty will be built alongside so that visitors will be able to approach by boat and there are plans to build a new footbridge across the river from the site to the City. In 1999 the Tate Gallery of Modern Art plans to open in the Bankside Power Station nearby and there are plans to transform the whole area into a new entertainment and cultural playground. The money for the vast project has come in from across the world, principally the US. In Asia, Japanese and Malaysian companies have donated towards the new theatre but so far there has been no money from Hong Kong. A final opening date for the theatre has been set for June 14, 1996. The whole project will have cost GBP30 million (HK$ 390 million). To complete the actual Shakespearean theatre itself, GBP1 million is still needed and that is where the builders hope Hong Kong can come to the rescue. 'We would like Hong Kong to come up with the last shot in the arm for the Globe,' said Marina Blodget, international liaison officer for the project. Sam Wanamaker visited Hong Kong twice to raise funds before he died in 1993 but it was one mission he failed in. 'Hong Kong may be a place where nobody knows anything about what is going on here,' said Mrs Blodget. 'Or maybe those who considered donating saw the project dragging on. 'Now we are getting to the point where we are nearing completion and yet we still need GBP1 million to complete the 'O'.' The Globe is a masterpiece of historical recreation. The architects examined 17th century buildings to recreate their construction techniques, solar studies showed the stage was always in the shade (when there were no clouds) and the audience was in the sun. The structure has borrowed widely from original manuscripts and from the design of the foundations of the Elizabethan Rose theatre that was found near the site in 1988. Not one nail has been used in its wooden structure. Its English oak frame is held together by a modified mortice and tenon system all thoroughly treated for fire proofing, fire retardant material has been placed between its walls and its Norfolk reed thatching has been treated and fitted with a sprinkler system. It is the first thatched roof to be built in London since the Great Fire of London in 1666. The City fathers wisely banned thatch as far back as 1212 but their warnings were not heeded and it continued to be used in mediaeval times. Even its lime plastered walls are borrowed from the 17th century, being made of a daub-like mixture of goats hair from Turkey and lime. The original Globe burnt down in 1613. It was rebuilt the following year but the puritans of the English Civil War closed the theatre down in 1644. In those days people were passionate about the theatre. When the Globe put its flag up to say a performance was about to start people would flood across the river in their boats from the City to bag a one penny seat, additional cushion another penny. Currently surrounded by offices and warehouses the bank-side area of Southwark used to be the rowdy entertainment centre of London with bear baiting arenas, noisy taverns and whore houses. Those working on the project believe they will be able to bring back some, if not all, the characteristics of the old area. 'It will bring the area back to what it was like in the 16th and 17th centuries, full of life,' said Mrs Blodget. 'Sam used to say it is going to be a great adventure, I think it will be. Shakespeare has always been a figurehead of the English language and that is really what this is all about. 'We can work as fast as we have got money, we are only limited by what we can spend.'